Suriname - Health

Suriname's largest hospital is the Academic Hospital, which had
402 beds in 1999 and has the country's only emergency unit. Other
hospitals included the 227-bed Diakonessen Hospital, 75-bed Nickerie
Hospital, and the Military Hospital. The 280-bed Psychiatric Hospital
provided mental health care. In 1990, there were an estimated 2.7
hospital beds per 1,000 people. In 1997, there were 2.5 doctors per
1,000 people. Safe water was available to 89% of the population as of
1995. In 1994, health care expenditures totaled 5% of GDP.

In 2002, Suriname's estimated birth rate was 20 per 1,000 people.
Average life expectancy was estimated at 71.9 years and the total
fertility rate at 2.4 children per woman. The mortality rate for
children under five years of age was 8.7 per 1,000 in 1996. The infant
mortality rate was estimated at 23.5 per 1,000 live births in 2002.
Overall mortality was 5.7 per 1,000 in 2002. The immunization rates for
a child under one in 1997 were as follows: diphtheria, pertussis and
tetanus, 85%; polio, 81%; and measles, 81%.

Tuberculosis, malaria, and syphilis, once the chief causes of death,
have been controlled. In 1995, there were 72 cases of tuberculosis
reported. In 1996, malaria deaths totaled 14. No polio cases were
documented in 1995. As of 1999, the number of people living with
HIV/AIDS was estimated at 3,000 and deaths from AIDS that year were
estimated at 83.